Ependymoblastoma: Dear, Damned, Distracting Diagnosis, Farewell!

Posted Jun 18 2009 12:21pm

In an article entitled "Ependymoblastoma: Dear, Damned, Distracting Diagnosis, Farewell!" published online in Brain Pathology, authors Alexander R.Judkins (UPenn) andDavid W.Ellison (St. Jude's, Memphis) adapt a line fromAlexander Pope's poem A Farewell to London(1715) for their title. Judkins and Ellison conclude the following: "We believe that ependymoblastoma as a diagnosis is neither precise nor specific and that it is time once and for all to retire this diagnosis from the lexicon of neuropathology." For now, the World Health Organization tumor classification sytem continues to recognize ependymoblastoma as a distinct nosologic entity. These neoplasms are often large, supratentorial, and usually connect to the ventricles. If anything defines an epedymoblastoma, it is the ependymoblastomatous rosette. A photomicrograph of such a rosette from the Judkins & Ellison article is shown. In this picture, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) immunohistochemistry highlights the limiting lumenal membrane of rossette. (Note: Although published online in December '08, I got word today via email from Dr. Ellison that this article will likely appear in print in the next issue of Brain Pathology.)